He had been in danger of being dropped since the 53-year-old manager took charge in 2016 after missing out on England’s last Euro 2024 semi-final against the Netherlands. 1-1, Dutch boss Ronald Koeman changed his course at half-time, sending on Wout Weghorst, picking up the areas where Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Kobi Manu were exploiting and asking England and Southgate a different question .
As for the past, it troubled him. England had nine snaps in Wednesday’s 2-1 win, but none between a modest 41st and 87th. Southgate waited a long time before walking out.
Memories of Croatia in 2018, France in 2022 or even former Euro finals in between – which England lost in results – resurfaced as Southgate sought to protest his side’s waning momentum. I looked incapable.
His conversations on the touchline with support worker Steve Holland can seem endless. There’s no doubt that alternative managers are extra proactive, even intuitive.
However, there was considerable pressure to bring on Luke Shaw at half-time as Kieran Trippier suffered a groin ailment, making him doubtful for Sunday’s final, with 10 minutes to go before Southgate came on. The double change was, ultimately, bold.
Harry Kane is England’s all-time leading goalscorer and captain, but despite scoring a first-half penalty that restricted Xavi Simmons’s brilliant opener, he was flat, tired and too easy to mark. Southgate noted shortly after that Denzel Dumfries’ challenge on Kane, which resulted in a penalty, had left an impression on the forward.
Foden was also caught in extensive unwellness, but was so poor in the first half that a shot went off the chain before hitting the post from the long area. It wasn’t an easy name for Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer to pull off given both of their reputations and status, but it was definitely the best one.
Palmer fired over in the 88th minute, but then made a good pass to Watkins, who turned to Stefan de Vrij and fired a brilliant shot past Dutch goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen and into his right-hand post. Signal rebellion.
Elsewhere in the maelstrom, Southgate responded by introducing Conor Gallagher and Ezri Konsa out of stoppage-time and creating scenes of greater joy at full-time. Subsequently allowing the players to reach mid-level in front of the cheering England supporters, Southgate took a life of cheering in front of them.
This is a match campaign that has been marred by positioning problems from the start and strong complaints from supporters throughout. Now beer was not being thrown at Southgate but into the air.
“We all want to be loved, right? When you’re doing something for your country and you’re a proud Englishman, when you don’t feel that way and all you read is criticism, it’s hard ,” Southgate then said in a fit. “To be able to celebrate another final is very, very special. Especially the traveling fans.”
“Our travel support is fantastic, the money they spend, the dedication to doing it, the intention to give them an evening like this – and we’ve given them something from Russia over about six years – it’s a dozen ways, if not If I wasn’t on the grass, I would be watching, celebrating like they were celebrating.
“We’re kindred spirits in a lot of ways. Of course, I have to pick the team. To be able to give them a night like tonight is very, very special.”
England’s opening 45 minutes were the most productive football they produced in the entire match. Admittedly, the bar for him was a pretty low-looking performance, but there was a strength and dynamism about them, then Simmons’ stunning seventh-minute crash put the Netherlands in front.
Kane’s equalizing goal came from a penalty that was actually only awarded within VAR time, but England were too good for it until the Netherlands closed the game poorly, making it England’s first win against Denmark. became a uniform form of poor performance. Especially Slovenia, Slovakia and Switzerland.
Southgate noted, “In the second half they were three-box-three so we weren’t able to be as aggressive but we kept the ball really well and made them run.” “Maybe in the end, that’s what tired them out and was crucial in the goal we scored. There was a lot going on in the game. In the end, it’s the players who make the decisions on the pitch, And he did it brilliantly.”
Of course, the cycle will only really be broken if England can go all the way and win their first major men’s award since 1966. This is no ancient Netherlands side and England have, once again, benefited from a kinder half of the draw. Final belligerents Spain are pulling out all stops to give England their toughest competition yet this summer.
Southgate was asked about the chances of beating Spain. “We have to take the ball away from them first,” his response began.
However, after struggling for all the solutions – changing Declan Rice’s midfield partner three times, switching tactics from a back four to a three-man defense – Southgate came up with a game-changing breakthrough when it really mattered.
This could be a one-time thing. His criticisms will remain, even if the match record now reads: semi-final, final, quarter-final, final. However England are now ready where Southgate needs only one more gift to reach immortality.
Discover more from news2source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
